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Alter Fate T Harlaown figure review

Wasn’t planning on getting any of Alter’s scaled figure releases of “Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS”, but after seeing the stunning prototypes for Fate in Shin Sonic form and Nanoha in Exceed Mode, immediately pre-ordered both.

Was a bit apprehensive at times about the figure though, especially since it looked like a very daring project by Alter, with the long flowing hair, air-bound pose, huge Zamber sword and a significant price tag.

However, having gotten the Teana Lanster figure from “Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS” by Alter at a convention a few months ago, was convinced I would love Fate and Nanoha.

Sculpted by Tsumezuka Hiroyuki, Fate is absolutely stunning! A great example of the high quality figures Alter has been recently producing.

Next to a gorgeous sculpt, the paint job is absolutely flawless and even though Fate’s Shin Sonic form is a simpler body fitting outfit, all the details are there and well cared for.

The excellent paint work also gives one the impression of solidity and fluidity in her body suit, and convincingly renders her gauntlets and boots as metallic armor.

Love her dynamic, energetic pose, she looks as if flying through the air ready to strike down on her foe.

A very powerful pose that’s quite eye catching when you put her in the middle of other figures.

Although some may think that Fate’s Shin Sonic magic combat outfit is rather simplistic compared to the regular form with cape she had in “Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS” , the sculptor still managed to give Fate a really dynamic atmosphere due to her powerful pose and long flowing hair.

True to the Shin Sonic form as seen in the anime series, Fate comes both with her weapon Bardiche’s default Zamber sword mode as well as the Riot Zamber weapon mode, which sees Zamber split into two smaller swords.

The normal Zamber sword is huge, over 35cm long! Require minor assembly, the solid metal grip needs to be inserted into the larger portion of the sword. Both smaller Riot Zamber swords also have metal grips, which makes installing them into Fate’s hands a lot easier.

This figure contains quite a bit of metal, as Fate is supported on her base by solid metal pegs.

Due to the sheer size of the large Zamber sword, an additional stand is included to support for the tip of the sword.

Considering space constraints to display her and the large Zamber looking like it will make Fate slump over time, I choose to display her in Riot Zamber sword mode.

Had a tough time photographing Fate with my Canon 100mm macro lens.

For close up shots that lens was of ideal, but at 100mm and Fate’s sheer size, I couldn’t get her fully in the frame due to the room’s space constraints.

As such, a few shots were made with the Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS lens.

All photos were made using a tripod, remote trigger and mirror lock up function. Am pleased with how most turned out though indeed still need to work on proper lighting. Looks like I may best invest in a value lighting rig to achieve better results.

As you can see from this shot, with the size of my background paper and photographing area, wasn’t able to easily fit Fate and her box into the field of view very well.

Once assembled she’s longer than the box is wide by a large margin.

A 1/7 scale PVC figure, Fate is the latest addition of Alter’s series of figures created from the “Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS” characters, of which previously Teana, Subaru, Signum, Vita, Reinforce and Hayate were already released.

Nanoha is the next one scheduled, barring any delays she should be out this December.

The release date for Fate was pushed back a few times but after her release a few weeks ago, she finally arrived on my doorstep this past Wednesday, courtesy of being held back by customs.

Was actually rather shocked when Hobby Link Japan’s shipping notice for Fate arrived in my mailbox as the EMS shipping fee was the highest I’ve ever been billed for.

Reading similar reports online from others who purchased Fate, did wonder what was the cause. Saw Hobby Link Japan’s explanation the cost is due to the parcel size.

Once Fate arrived on my doorstep, was still surprised to see the huge parcel box.

Alas, due to this over-sized parcel I was forced to pay an additional fee to customs, which is quite revolting considering they kept the parcel on hold for over a week, never opened it to inspect it and calculated their taxes fee on the combined sum of the figure cost and shipping fee I had already paid.

Although the figure’s pose lends itself best to be looked at and photographed from the front or sides, wanted to include this rear angle shot so one can admire Fate’s perfectly sculpted behind.

Lovely おしり！

Her outfit being black and all the attention drawn by the dynamic pose, one would almost miss seeing how Fate developed into quite the shapely woman by the time of “Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS”.

Also should comment on the great care Alter took in the figure package. Not only did they include a thorough manual on how to connect the parts and accessories, but she comes packed in three levels, of which two separate the different accessories.

While she certainly is fairly expensive, seen the sheer size and amazing sculpt, Fate is definitely a well worth purchase and must have for any “Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha” fan!

@Leonia
She is indeed! After Saber Lily and bounty hunter Yoko I thought we had seen the best figures this year, but Fate takes the level even higher.
@JamesG
I was charged 55 Euro (35 Euro taxes and 20 Euro handling fee) which is… a farce really. They never even opened the parcel, it was just stuck in their transit office until they eventually delivered it. To me it feels like they just slapped on a big fee out of malice.

Nice review, I decided to skip out on Alter Fate. It is unfortunate timing, but I feel it is for the best since the amount of room needed to display her properly no longer exist in my room. Do like the shapely figure and beautiful behind though!

@Wolfheinrich
That may be for the best since she does require significant space to display her. Yes, her おしり is appealing, is it not? ^^
@Anime Figures Toys
The only shop I can imagine is http://www.archonia.com whom I often purchase from. But the import costs from Japan will be reflected in their higher item price and alas lately, they have been getting figures sometimes a few months after the original release date and had problems securing a few popular releases, so to avoid risks I pre-order such popular figures from Hobby Link Japan or another Japanese bound store.
@Optic
Nanoha’s box even bigger? 0_0
Honestly I haven’t a clue how customs work here, usually they open the parcel and slap on a generic fee which is always the same no matter how valuable the item is. This time they somehow charged five times more as usual, seemingly because it is such a large box.

IMO if you tend to ship in large quantities of packages customs usually start to remember your name/address :p and they’ll charge you for import duties regardless of which delivery method you choose :p At least that’s how I suspect it is in my neck of the woods :p

@Yi
Thanks! Even though she was pricey, the fact she’s such a nice figure makes up for that. ^^
@Devastator001
I sure hope not. 0_0
@Meronpan
Your review has great photos, love the results with the light tent, am considering getting one. Plus, your collection of StrikerS figures is huge, well your collection is just plain huge. ^^;;
@James
Yes, even though I tried to get the sword fully in the frame, it was impossible to do with my 100mm macro lens.

Fate is lovely I must say~ The same can’t be said for the shipping fee for you though… I must be one of the lucky ones who don’t have to worry about shipping or custom fees because I pre-ordered and got mine in Hong Kong.

Thanks to her large size, I had to end up buying a shelf for her, which didn’t fit because her hair gets in the way so much that the base sticks out like a sore thumb. Had to put her on top of the shelf at the end. I probably won’t buy anymore scale PVC figures since I am starting to really lack space for anymore large stuff… -_-